Author: Steven Sahiounie

Russia has no information suggesting North Korea is preparing to conduct submarine launches of ballistic missiles, Pyotr Ilyichev, the head of the Department of International Organizations at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Sputnik on Saturday.Earlier this month, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies claimed that North Korea was preparing a test of a medium-range submarine-launched ballistic missile, citing satellite images of a North Korean shipyard.“We have no such information. Such analytics in delicate matters should be approached with caution, as it often carries a purposeful political charge,” Ilyichev said.The diplomat said any “drastic” steps by North Korea would…

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Russia was forced to create hypersonic weapons after the United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty) in 2002.“The withdrawal of the United States from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 forced Russia to start developing hypersonic weapons. We had to create these weapons in response to the deployment of the US strategic missile defense system, which was capable to actually neutralize, reset our entire nuclear potential in the future,” Putin said during a videoconference with Gerbert Yefremov, the Honorary director and designer general of Russia’s rocket and missile developer…

A twin airstrike on a Taliban base in the northeastern Afghan province of Kunduz has left 30 civilian casualties, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Saturday.“One airstrike was carried out in the Nikpai area of the Khanabad district of Kunduz, and when people gathered in the area another attack took place in which up to 30 civilians were killed and wounded,” an eyewitness told Sputnik.According to another witness, the airstrikes left 12 civilians killed, including children, and 18 others injured. The witness added that seven Taliban militants had been killed and two others had been injured as a result of the…

Neither side of the Russian-Turkish commission which is monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire in Syria has reported any violations over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.“The Russian side of the representative office of the joint Russian-Turkish Commission on issues related to violations of the truce recorded no ceasefire violations. The Turkish part of the commission did not record any instances of firing,” the ministry said in its daily bulletin.The Russian military did not hold any humanitarian operations in Syria in the given period, the Defense Ministry added.Russian officials also confirmed that almost 500 Syrian…

The commander of the naval forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Brigadier General Ali Reza Tungsiri, said that the Gulf region should be free of foreign presence and Iran could conduct joint maneuvers with the Gulf countries.Tungsiri told the ISNA newspaper, “The Gulf states should not make a foothold for Israel in the region, because that will cause them harm … Israel’s coming to the Gulf region will not be in the interest of the Gulf countries and will pose a threat to Iran.”Tungsiri stressed that Iran will not initiate any war, “but we will not fear it if it…

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has been carrying out a combing operation against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) sleeper cells inside the Hama Governorate.Units from the Syrian Arab Army, along with the National Defense Forces (NDF), have targeted several Islamic State hideouts in the Khanasser countryside and eastern region of Hama, inflicting heavy damage on the terrorist positions.Video footage of the combing operation was captured by the Syrian field reporter, Abu Sham, who showed the SAA troops gathering and tracking the terrorist forces.

On Friday, the U.S. military announced that it was boosting its military presence in northeastern Syria despite previous efforts to limit its forces there.The spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, Bill Urban, said in a statement, as reported by Monte Carlo Al-Doualiya, that their leadership deployed the Sentinel radar system, intensified the sorties of American fighters over their allied forces and deployed Bradley combat vehicles to reinforce American troops in the area controlled by the U.S. military and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).A U.S. official, who asked not to be identified, stated that the number of armored vehicles that were sent…

Iran’s permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Kazem Gharib Abadi, said that the explosion that occurred at the Natanz nuclear facility some time ago was an act of sabotage by the enemies.This came in a speech delivered by Abadi on Thursday, during the meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in which he reviewed his country’s positions on safeguarding their facilities.With regard to the sabotage at the Natanz facility, Abadi warned of such a dangerous adventure, stressing Iran’s right to an “appropriate response” to these threats, Fars News reported.He stressed that Iran attaches…

In May, the largest Venezuelan oil tanker reportedly raised the Russian flag and renamed the vessel, “Maxim Gorky”, according to the EQUASIS shipping database.Since 2013, the ship had been operating in Venezuela under the name Ayacucho, but on May 1, 2020, it was renamed Maxim Gorky.The tanker has been operating under the flag of the Russian Federation since June 1 of this year, the maritime traffic site revealed. According to the documents of the Russian International Register, at the end of May the tanker was registered in the Russian Federation, and the Russian River Registry of Cargo issued a certificate…

The Iraqi Army plans to reintroduce the Soviet-era T-62 tank to its forces, a new report from the Russian newspaper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, said this week.Citing evidence at a repair facility near the Taji Military Base, the Russian newspaper said the T-62 tank is being worked on so that it can be reintroduced into the Iraqi Armed Forces.The report said that due to financial restrictions, the Ministry of Defense has not been able to acquire new equipment, so the army is now working to restore their older equipment.Initially, they brought back the T-55 and the Chinese Type 69, then they began…